2011 Goals

"The past is behind,
Learn from it.
The future is ahead,
Prepare for it
The present is here:
Live it!"
~Thomas S. Monson


My goals for 2011

SO this New Year I really want to make some solid goals and achieve them. I dream and dream big and have all sorts of goals and aspirations. They are in the works. Right now in my life I think I need to work on the day to day stuff. I get so carried away with the future that I forget to live NOW. So I thought I would document some personal goals that I want to achieve/improve on by the end of the year. You can laugh at them if you want. I am my worst critic and am very hard on myself for the smallest things so for me some of these things are to start small and then go from there. Just writing them down makes me feel better. I am on my way...


Send birthday cards via mail or email to family for their birthdays

Be honest and ethical in my daily dealings

Go to the temple every other month

Read my scriptures 3 times a week

Read the Ensign cover to cover

Read a book each month

I always give excuses and reasons for simple everyday actions. Nothing major. Just dumb stuff. As an example, one time I was going down the elevator and I had to tell my receptionist why I was going down. No big deal though and what does she care. SO for this goal I want to refrain from giving people reasons or excuses for my actions. If they need to know why then they will ask.

Be more confident in everything I do.

Listen more

Be the first to order off the menu at a restaurant.

Cook dinner 5 times a week.

Stay fit and healthy. ~ I never want to say diet or loose weight. Though it would be awesome to be at my prewedding weight. I just don't think it is going to happen unless I starve myself. I am gorgeous and content with what I look like. I would like to keep my healthy eating and exercising habits because they make me feel great!

Reconnect with old friends

Draw or paint a picture each week.

Dance more and sing out loud

Continue to smile

STARS Christmas Newsletter 2010

Make a picture slideshow

Please enjoy our holiday greeting and newsletter! Thank you,

Love,

Lars and Stephanie Barlow

John Denver & The Muppets - 12 Days of Christmas

I love Christmas music and I love the Muppets. Put them together and you get a fun video.

Merry Christmas!

SNOW aka "The Blizzard"

It does exist. And it finally came.

I haven't played in it yet or made a snow angel yet.

But I don't think it is going anywhere so our time will come for that later today.

It sure is pretty to look at,

but man is it cold.

Good thing I come to Utah when it is cold so I don't acclimatize in California.

I can take one any weather in California now.

The Adventure Continues...

Saturday I slept in. My coworker and I slowly got up and decided to go find some southern food. We checked out a restaurant a few blocks away but wasn't impressed with the southern selections. Not southern enough for us. So we started walking towards the beach. 2.5 miles later we were there. It didn't take that long and the conversation and the views of all the yacht and other boats made it seem short. Once at the beach I ran to the water and dipped my feet in the Atlantic Ocean. I went to Orlando when I was a kid and think we went to the beach but i can't remember. The water was very warm and the same was beautiful. I sat in the sand for a long time and just played and dug for shells. Then we got some food and did some shopping. We ended the night at the Cheesecake Factory. Later in the week we took a boat taxi and got a tour of some of the houses along the river. I learned a bit of history of the area and enjoyed people watching. I did get the 24 hour flu and soup and sleep helped me overcome that.

I ate really good on this trip. Almost too good, I couldn't wait to eat some homemade food and inexpensive food when I got home. The area we were staying in was really nice and mostly had sit down restaurants. If we wanted anything else we had to take a cab there. A few days in I found a Subway, it felt good to find some inexpensive food. I never got my Cuban food but I did have....

Sushi

Po Boy Shrimp and Jambalaya

Ribs

Eggs Benedict

And some amazing desserts

Yeah, I know, my life revolve around food sometimes.

The plane ride home was stunning. I am always flying Jet Blue because the service was amazing and I was entertained between the free food and the t.v. in front of my seat with a ton of channels to choose from.

I really enjoyed my time in Fort Lauderdale. It is beautiful and I had a blast working with this team. I really needed this trip. I got what I came here for. I am leaving with more confidence in my ability to work and within myself personally. On of my favorite things about my position is that it is a lot like my experiences with Theatre. The process it takes to produce the work and service we provide our customers is a blast from start to finish just like Theatre productions. I get involved with a group of fine talented people and together we work hard, sometimes with blood, sweat, and tears, and we put together an amazing production. We have a blast during the process and in the end feel very rewarded from our efforts and the end product. It is very rewarding and makes me feel great. Because of my experiences with Theatre I love my current position. We go into a new site and clean it up and reorganize it. We get it ready for our companies implementation, invent or fine tune the current procedures, and provide nonstop amazing customer service. Most of the time the clients are appreciative and blown away at our process and attitude. I thrive in that environment and find it very satisfying.

I also made some amazing friends. Dee Jay, you were such a kind roomie. I really enjoyed our conversation and I love your spunk. Phillip, you are so smart and I enjoyed hearing your laugh. Oscar (Mister Sir), you are a super manager and I love attitude. You were a blast to hang out with. Frank, you work hard dude and were a delight. I miss you guys and cannot wait until we work together again, hopefully in the near future. In the mean time I will stay blonde, sing beautifully, and keep the white out close to the computer.

Thanks Florida...and for the rest of the possible cities I may visit, look out here I come.

Adventure Time with Stephanie

I am currently in Fort Lauderdale, FL. I traveled here for work, but in my down time I am exploring and having some "Me" time. My first impression of Florida...it is so beautiful and I love the smell of the air. There are huge cruise ships within site. I really like the area I am staying in. It is giving me a wonderful culture experience. I am staying in a hotel that is right next to the river that seeps into the ocean. The ocean front is a few miles away. I think I am in a district called Las Olas or River Front. I haven't figured that out yet. All I can tell is that there is always something going on here. My first night in they were having a concert that they blocked off the roads for. The next day they had a festival and a Night Light Walk for the Cure (Leukemia). Tomorrow they are having a marathon. At the festival they had the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile. Yep. I got a picture with it.

But this place really comes alive at night. A large number of the hot spots surrounding my hotel don't open until 8 pm and close at 5 am. If I had to liken it to another place I know... picture a mixture of San Diego (Gas Lamp District) and Hunting Beach but with much older people and most of the women are in short cocktail dresses (annoyed grumble like Sideshow Bob). But hey, I guess that is the culture here and I am soaking it in.

One thing that I absolutely love so far...is the variety of food! Sorry SoCal, but you mostly have a variety of Mexican food and some sushi, but there is still time for you to change that and for me to discover I am sure. However, currently when I want something other than Mexican I have to go fishing for it and travel a bit. This part of Florida has all sorts of food and it is all within a few blocks of my hotel. I went on a walk and I found sushi, Asian, Japanese, American, Mexican, Italian, and lots of French food. It is all so close to me. I love it and cannot wait to try most of it. I am for sure going to get sushi and find a Cuban restaurant.

As for the "Me" time, when I am not working I am exercising, reading, playing on the computer, and getting a taste of Fort Lauderdale. I am having fun and wish Lars was here to share the experience. Until I get to hug him again I will have a blast of an adventure. I have only been here two days and there is still lots more food to eat and things to see. I can't wait.

Sam I Am

So our friend Sam from Orem, UT is living in L.A. for a few months doing a few internships for various studios. We had him over for dinner and found out that he has not done any touristy things yet. So we kidnapped him and took him to a few of our favorite hot spots.

We are pretending to be Super Hero's too.

Then we pretended to break into the WB studio tower.

The Animaniacs live there. :)

Sam was daring and stood on the rail and in the water. Security was a few feet away, but we were super fast. They didn't know what hit them. MUAAHAHAHAHA

Griffith Park

View of Los Angeles

Hooray for Fun!

This is Halloween....

And other Fall Festivities

Making Carmel Apples

Checking out the Carnival across the street with our awesome neighbors, the Christensen's.

We shared a funnel cake. YUM! It was my first and hopefully not the last.

Dressing up like a trucker

(those are pillows...not his real gut)

Calculating

Having a silly time

Pondering

And digging for things

Happy Halloween!

The Bee Sharps Vacation

Our dear friends, Brandon and Melissa Carter, came to California to vacation with us for a whole week and help celebrate Lars' 30th Birthday. The fun was immediately started when they were welcomed by Disneyland fireworks that we could see on the drive home from the airport. Brandon rolled down his car window and cheered with much celebration. The fun was only getting started. We went to Beverly Hills, the Los Angeles Temple, Universal Studios, and the Adventure Pirate Dinner Theatre.

Can I just say that Universal Studios and the Pirate Dinner were amazing and are probably my most favorite thing to do in Southern California. Skip Disneyland people and go straight to those and believe me you won't regret it. Lars and I have an annual pass to Universal Studios and plan on visiting monthly, yep, its that awesome. The last show of the day we saw there was the Water World show, the coolest show. After the show the actors came out and we got pictures with them. These were real television and movie actors too, they were so nice and down to earth. People from True Blood, CSI New York, Law and Order, Miss Congeniality, and more. It was amazing.

In between all that there was much reminiscing and laughter.Then while Lars and I were at work, Brandon and Melissa visited Disneyland and in the evenings we gathered together to play. There was a massive heatwave during there stay so we played a lot in doors, either way it was fun because we were together and when you are with your friends hot weather doesn't matter because together you keep it real and stay cool. We even got to have our reunion tour and play some Rock Band.

For Lars's birthday we met up for dinner with more friends at The Market Broiler, one of our favorite fish and sushi places. Then we headed to Vegas for more adventure and The Amazing Jonathan Show. It was hilarious and awesome. Lars got to go on stage for almost half the show. He thought I had planned it, but it was all by chance and it was the best. I can tell Lars was having the time of his life. You can read more about his experience here. We went to the Canal Street, at The Orleans casino, and had THE BEST steak I have ever had in my life. All the food was amazing and melted in my mouth, seriously it was an orgasm for your mouth. We did a lot of exploring and picture taking. My theme for most of the pictures was "jumping". I tried to jump in every shot and I did good. I watch next top model and have learned a thing or two about posing. I will be a star someday, you just wait.

Anyway, the vacation with our dear Utah friends was amazing and we loved it and cannot wait to do it again. Thanks Brandon and Melissa for coming to see us. California misses you and so do we, so come back soon.

I made a slide show of some of our favorite pictures watch for the amazing "jumping" shots.

Bee Sharps Vacation Slideshow: The Barlow's and The Carter's’s trip from Anaheim, California, United States to 4 cities Las Vegas, Buena Park, Beverly Hills and Orange was created by TripAdvisor. See another United States slideshow. Take your travel photos and make a slideshow for free.

What a Week Part 3

I ended up taking Friday off to take care of Lars, but also to take care of myself and get "Me" sorted out. Let me tell ya, I am feeling so great now. I dealt with the weird week of emotions and I am loving how I am feeling. Things have been put into perspective and I am seeing things differently now and know where I have been and where I am going. I am where I am supposed to be and I love me. Life is good! In fact I feel so good, that if my life were a movie something bad should be coming next, that is how good I feel. I am on my way to more great things, even though the road ahead may be hard. I am still going to be smiling. Right now I am in heaven!

What a Week Part 2

Then when I got home I watched a lot of Muppets to make me laugh and lift my spirits. This one was my favorite.

What a Week Part 1

So this week was filled with all sorts of emotion. Work was tough to get through and Lars was very sick all week so I was going to and from work by myself. When things are crazy it makes my mind race and sometimes over think lots of things. Most of those things I shrug off as being over emotional, but other thoughts I have I really try to sort out and learn from. On the long drive home Thursday I listened to Natasha Bedingfield. Her music is very soothing and her lyrics put various thoughts I have been having into perspective. Plus she has a beautiful voice. Her song Wild Horses was on of the favorites of the drive home.

Lucky #7

Lets play catch up on my blog....ready....set....GO!

In August we celebrated our 7th Anniversary. To celebrate we went to an authentic German Restaurant for dinner. They treated us like royalty. It is a fabulous family owned restaurant and they make everything from scratch and have their own butcher. The food was amazing. It is a quiet, little hole in the wall restaurant called Jagerhaus. The portions are huge and both breakfast and dinner are delicious. It is one of the top three restaurants I take my visitors too (I will reveal the other two in another blog some other time).

Then we went to San Diego for the weekend. It was my first time there and probably the furthest south I have ever been. We had an amazing time. We went to Old Town, the San Diego Zoo, Gas Lamp District, Seaport Village, the Temple, and the Mormon Battalion Museum. We also ate at this amazing sushi place called Sushi Deli #2, it was the longest line I ever waited in for sushi, but it was worth it. I think the Zoo and the Mormon Battalion Museum were my favorite. I saw animals I have never seen before and there was so much fun stuff to do. I even got a few stuffed animals to bring home. The Battalion Museum was so awesome. They took us on a historic tour and it was very entertaining and afterwards they gave us a picture to keep. Everyone should seriously stop by there if ever visiting San Diego area.

This trip was one of my favorite family trips to date. I love being married to Lars, he is my best friend. The day we married I felt our love so strong but after 7 years it is even greater and stronger. Here is to forever and always.

I created a slide show of our adventure. Enjoy!

7th Anniversary Family Vacation Slideshow: Stephanie & Lars Barlow’s trip from Anaheim, California, United States to San Diego was created by TripAdvisor. See another San Diego slideshow. Create your own stunning free slideshow from your travel photos.

Bee Sharps Reunion

4 days

These fine people

Will be in my home, arms, same state, just inches away from me.

I cannot wait to have them over. We are going to laugh a lot, site see, eat lots, so much I want to do with them and show them, and lose lots of sleep having fun and just hang out. Best part is the fun is going to last for more than a week.

Sorry rest of my daily routine, you are going on hold for...

The Bee Sharps Reunion Rock Band Tour!

And believe me I can use the break from my daily routine.

So thank you dear friends and band mates for coming to visit and play!!

Moving on Out

We are moving this Saturday! We love our ward but not our apartment and our complex has taken a turn or the worst so as soon as our lease expired we signed off. We have been looking for apartments since June and we had a few top picks then we saw the Empire Apartments and they just felt like home. Plus the space, price, neighborhood, management, and ward are just right. We are excited for the change. I have lots more I want to blog about from this last month, our anniversary and San Diego trip, but I need to finish packing. After we are all moved I will sit down and catch you all up on the Barlow Life! Much love to you!

Waverly Hills Adventure

A few weeks ago we went exploring in LA and Beverly Hills.

Lakeshore Entertainment Office/Studio

We went on a walk down Rodeo Dr. True story, while walking a tour van drove by and I was goofing off and started posing and a this guy took my picture and then gave me a thumbs up. It was pretty funny.

This tree was really cool looking.

We are Simpson's fans and the whole time we were there we were singing the Waverly Hills song from a recent Simpson's Episode, Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1-D'oh. Then we walked in a store and what song came on...Beverly Hills by Weezer. It was pretty epic.

Then we went to the temple. It was gorgeous.

They had this really cool tree there.

It was so much fun exploring the big city. We decided that we are going to be adventurous and explore something new in our wonderful city each month. So when YOU come to visit we will know all the hot spots to show you.